iPad is changing the way we work

This is just one of many stories industry professionals have been working with apple and their technology to improve the way they work.

"We us an iPad app to overlay 3D blood vessels and blood flow areas during surgery, giving us more patient information in the operating room."

Dr. Itaru Endo, Director if Digestive Surgery and Lover Transplantation, Yokohama City University felt the process currently being used in his line of work could be improved, He envisioned a better and safer procedure — using an iPad app. So he teamed up with Dr. Ryusei Matsuyama, a fellow surgeon at Yokohama City University, and his colleague, senior software developer Alexander Köhn from Fraunhofer MEVIS, a research institute for medical image computing in Germany, to develop an app that helps minimize the risks involved with liver surgery.

The iPad app, which is moving through clinical evaluations, provides comprehensive access to three-dimensional surgical data. The app uses augmented reality to overlay complex vascular systems during operations. This reveals liver perfusion patterns that are invisible to the human eye, giving greater insight into the exact location of certain blood vessels. The app also shows local blood flow territories and assesses potential risks in real time.

Using iPad apps during surgery has gained popularity in the medical community for saving lives and also for saving money. “Anytime I touch Apple products, I feel that dreams will come true,” says Dr. Endo. “It makes me proud to be a user of such fantastic products.”